Ethics in Medicine

It's Official: PSA Testing Does More Harm Than Good

Kristen Sparrow • May 22, 2012

As readers of this blog or my newsletters (and here) know, this has been a topic for a few years, but now it’s official.  The money quote is this ” Most important, the task force found that, at best, one man in every 1,000 given the P.S.A. test may avoid death as a result of the screening, while another man for every 3,000 tested will die prematurely as a result of complications from prostate cancer treatment and dozens more will be seriously harmed.
May 21, 2012, 5:00 pm

New Data on Harms of Prostate Cancer Screening

By TARA PARKER-POPE
In a controversial finding that will affect at least 44 million American men, a government task force published its final recommendations against regular prostate cancer screening, concluding that the harms of the simple blood test far outweigh any potential benefit.